Volunteers

Jefferson Airplane

The sixth Jefferson Airplane LP. Jerry Garcia plays on one track. An remastered expanded CD with bonus tracks was released in 2004.

Tracks

We Can Be Together (Kantner)

Good Shepherd (Traditional arr. Kaukonen)

The Farm (Kantner / Blackman)

Hey Fredrick (Slick)

Turn My Life Down (Kaukonen)

Wooden Ships (Crosby / Kantner / Stills)

Eskimo Blue Day (Slick / Kantner)

A Song For All Seasons (Dryden)

Meadowlands (Traditional arr. Kaukonen)

Volunteers (Balin / Kantner)

Bonus tracks on 2004 expanded CD (live Fillmore East Nov 1969);

Good Shepherd (Traditional arr. Kaukonen)

Somebody to Love (live) (Slick)

Plastic Fantastic Lover (live) (Balin)

Wooden Ships (live) (Crosby / Kantner / Stills)

Volunteers (live) (Balin / Kantner)

Musicians

Jefferson Airplane;

Marty Balin - guitar, vocals

Jack Casady - bass

Spencer Dryden - drums

Paul Kantner - guitar, vocals

Jorma Kaukonen - guitar, vocals

Grace Slick - keyboards, vocals

Additional musicians;

Joey Covington - percussion

Ace of Cups - vocals

David Crosby - music/sailboat

Jerry Garcia - pedal steel (on The Farm)

Nicky Hopkins - piano

Steven Stills - organ

Credits

Producer - Al Schmitt

Engineer - Rich Schmitt

Maurice at the 16 track

Pat Ieraci Mauriceman

Produced at Wally Heider's Studio, SF

Album design - Gut, Milton Burke, Airplane

Cover photo - Jim Marshall

Back photo - Jim Smircich, photo alchemist

PB & J photo - Little Herbie Greene

PB & J - Eaten by Gut

Notes

It is likely that this was Garcia's first issued recording on pedal steel.

It was also the first recording made at Wally Heider's San Francisco Studios.

Volunteers was the sixth album to be released by Jefferson Airplane. It was the last album made by what many believe to be the classic Jefferson Airplane line-up. It reached 13th in the Billboard album charts.

The Volunteers didn't have political origins according to Balin;

One morning somebody was banging the garbage cans outside my window. I looked out and it said on the truck 'Volunteers Of America.' I leaned over and wrote, 'Hey, what's happening in the street. Da-Da-Da...' Paul put some music to it, and it became a kind of anthemic thing for us. I say it's about a truck picking up some garbage and people don't believe me.

Related releases

Reissued in quadrophonic by RCA in 1973. Tracks from this release were subsequently included on the Jefferson Airplane Loves You box set.

A remastered, expanded version was released on CD in 2004.

Volunteers was reissued together with another Airplane album, Crown Of Creation, as a double LP in the US in 1980;